Rail-joint.



M. BUYER.

I RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6; 1911.

Patented Oct. 31, 191 1.

Inventor Attorneys Witnesses UNITE s ams MARTIN BOYER, OF LOWRY,MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO AXEL A. WALLMARK, OF LOWRY,MINNESOTA.

RAIL-JOINT.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVIARTIN BOYER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lowry, in the county of Pope and State of Minnesota, haveinvented a new and useful Rail- Joint, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to rail joints and one of its objects is toprovide means whereby rails may be securely fastened together withoutthe use of bolts such as ordinarily employed, the members of the jointhaving interlocking portions which cooperate to prevent displacement ofthe parts while the rail is in position and certain of the parts of theoint being designed to grip the rails in proportion to the weightapplied thereto.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings the pre ferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings :Figure 1 is a plan view of a joint embodying thepresent improvements, the same being applied to rails. Fig. 2 is asection on line AB Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of themembers of the joint. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the base plate. Fig. 5is a bottom plan view of the two rail gripping members of the joint.Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a baseplate having upstanding enlargements of irregular contour such asindicated at 2, these enlargements extending across the longitudinalcenter of the plate and having their end portions preferably of greaterwidth than the middle portions thereof. In the drawings the enlargementshave been shown substantially of the shape of a figure 8, but it is tobe understood that other shapes may be employed if so desired.

The enlarged ends of the projecting por tions 2 are adapted to fitwithin recesses or openings 3 formed withinthe plates 4 of the railengaging members of the coupling, each of these bases merging into anover- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 6, 1911.

Patented Oct. 31, 1911. Serial No. 631,640.

hanging portion 5 from which extends afish plate 6. Braces 7 arepreferably arranged upon the outer face of each fish plate and theportion 6 adjacent thereto and spike receiving notches or recesses 8 maybe formed within the rail engaging portions along the sides thereof. Twoof these rail engaging portions are provided, each being a duplicate ofthe other and the base flanges of the rails to be fastened are adaptedto fit upon the bases 4 and under the overhanging portions 5, the inneror free longi tudinal edges of the base portions being normallysupported out of contact with the base plate 1 but being capable ofswinging downwardly when the rail is subjected to weight so as to causethe fish plates 6 to press more firmly upon the webs of the rails vinterposed between them. The inner .portion of each recess or slot 3 islarger than the open end thereof and it will be apparent that, as longas the bases 4 are in engagement with the enlargements 2, they will beprevented from spreading apart. The only way in whlch these bases can bedisengaged from the base plate 1 is by lifting them off of theenlargements.

In fastening rails together by means of the joint herein described, therail ends are brought together and the bases 4 are inserted thereunderfrom opposite sides so as to bring the fish plates 6 against the webs ofthe rails. The base plate 1 is then placed under the bases 4 after whichsaid bases are lowered into engagement with the enlargements 2 whichthus constitute ties for holding the bases 4 against movement away fromeach other. Spikes such as ordinarily employed can then be placed in thenotches or recesses 8 and driven through openings 9 formed in the baseplate 1, and into the tie or ties under the plate thus securely holdingthe parts of the joint together. It will be apparent that whenever therails are subjected to increased weight, they will press downwardly onthe free longitudinal edges of the bases 4, thus causing the fish platesto more firmly grip upon the webs of the rails.

As heretofore stated it becomes unnecessary to employ bolts forfastening the parts of the oint to the rails, but it is to be understoodthat, if preferred, such bolts may be employed and for this purposeopenings 9 have been formed in the fish plates 6 and are adapted toregister with corresponding openings formed Within the Webs of therails.

\Vhat is claimed is 1. A rail joint including a base plate, a tieprojection thereon and extending transversely thereof, and rail engagingmembers detachably mounted on the base plate and having bases formedwith openings for the reception of the tie projection, and rail grippingdevices connected to said bases.

A rail joint including a base having an upstanding transverse projectingportion thereon and rail engaging members mounted on the base plate,each of said members including a base having an opening for thereception of a portion of the projection, and an upstanding ail grippingportion, the said bases being mounted to tilt relative to the base platewhen subjected to a Weight.

3. A rail joint including a base plate, a tie projection upstandingtherefrom and extending transversely thereof, said projection havingenlarged end portions, and rail engaging members mounted on the baseplate and oppositely disposed, each of said mem 5 bers including a basehaving an opening for the reception of the tie projection, and a fishplate portion for engaging the Webs of the rails mounted upon the base,said rails constituting means for forcing the bases down- 30 Wardly tobind the fish plate portions upon the rails.

4. A rail joint including a base plate, transversely extendingprojecting portions thereon constituting tie devices, each of said 35projecting portions having enlarged end portions, and oppositelydisposed rail engaging members detachably engaging said enlargedportions and held thereby agamst spreading apart.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signa ture in the presence of two Witnesses.

MARTIN BUYER.

Vitnesses AUG. 0. LYsEN, MARIE I-IoLEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

